BrewDog living the dream with ‘disregard for the impossible’

Maverick brewing company chief James Watt today unveiled a sixth year of growth at BrewDog and said that it showed what was possible by showing “a healthy disregard for the impossible.”

Unveiling annual profit and turnover up by two-thirds, he said: “We have done well so far, but we are just getting warmed up. For 2015 we have mammoth plans that will really set the world alight. You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

The northeast business, which invested in an extension to its brewing operations at Ellon, opened 12 further BrewDog bars around the world, sealed an import and distribution deal, and launched a foundation to help other craft beers.

It also became a Living Wage employer and today says it has no intention of taking its foot of the growth plan. Its first craft beer bottle shop, Bottledog, opened last Aril in King’s Cross, housing 250 craft beers, and it plans to open more this year.

BrewDog now has 26 bars from Sheffield to Sao Paulo and exports to 55 countries. It launched the ground-breaking BrewDog Development Fund, allocating up to £100,000 of its annual profits to helping other craft breweries get established. It provided financial support and mentoring to London-based Brew by Numbers and CAP brewery from Stockholm, and will assist more breweries in 2015 as part of the initiative.

Profit rose by 69% from £2.9 million to £4.9m on a 64% rise in turnover from £18m to £29.6million.

The company attributes its growth in part to its record-breaking crowdfunding scheme ‘Equity for Punks’. The brewery closed a third round of the scheme in December 2013, after raising £4.25m from what it calls fanvestors.

Mr Watt, co-founder, said: “2014 was an epic year for BrewDog and the craft beer industry as a whole. Not only did we continue to grow at breakneck speed and secure more footholds of craft beer awesomeness all around the world, but we were able to improve processes and efficiencies to ensure we deliver the optimum flavour experience every time.

“Our growth has shown that with a healthy disregard for the impossible you can achieve anything. When we launched in 2007, we never expected to be where we are today, but our success continues to prove that there is an insatiable thirst for great craft beer, and a huge opportunity for businesses doing things differently to thrive in challenging economic times.

“BrewDog is nothing without its Equity Punks. Those 14,568 shareholders are what drive the business and we will continue to repay their trust and loyalty to us by brewing fantastic beers and spreading the craft beer revolution to all corners of the globe.”